It’s kind of sad that one of the greatest video game series is on hold for now.
Conspiracy theories, multiple ways of solving a mission, game lore hidden in computer inboxes…
Are there any (pre-2010) games that gave you the same feeling or do a similar thing?
EYE Divine Cybermancy if you are into weird shit .
There are some story-rich RPG shooters that are almost pre-2010 I could recommend, like maybe Dishonored or Fallout 3/New Vegas. But pre-2010 is tough, only ones I can think of are the System Shock or maybe Thief games.
Thief is the only one that comes to mind from that era that holds a candle to Deus Ex’s open-ended level design. Lots of different approaches to take on many of the stages. Well, as long as you didn’t play on high difficulties, anyway.
There still aren’t many games that go quite that hard on it. Open world games have a tendency to keep their set pieces much more simple. Maybe we’ll see more of it now that Baldur’s Gate 3 has made a big splash with the concept.
You should check out System Shock 2, Prey, Dishonored, Ctrl Alt Ego, EYE: Divine Cybermancy, and other Immersive Sims, or “Box Stackers.”
I bounced off both Prey and Dishonored early on specifically because of how linear they were. I’m guessing they open up later?
Dishonored is about as linear as Thief, open-ended level design, generally. Prey is closer to System Shock 2 in that it isn’t quite level based but not quite open world.
If you mean linear in terms of level design, they are both pretty open overall, similar to Deus Ex. If you’re referring to the actual Systemic game design providing new unique emergent solutions, then they actually beat Deus Ex in many ways.
Okay. I wasn’t as big on System Shock 2 as most seemed to be, but it’s also been forever since I played it.
I’ll have to give both of these another run at some point.
System Shock doesn’t really share anything with Deus Ex except that it’s also cyberpunk.
The original 2 System Shock games are Immersive Sims. They have systemic game design as the core focus of how the player interacts with the challenges presented.
Cyberp-
pre-2010
Ah shit.
I’m kinda struggling to think of any that are pre-2010 and not Deus Ex. Dishonored kinda?
Dishonored is 2012. I’ve got absolutely nothing.
Honestly I think Prey fits the request closer than Dishonored but that was released in 2017 so it’s waaaay outta scope.
Damn, now I feel old haha
Still haven’t played Prey but I keep hearing it’s amazing.
It’s pretty great.
I’m curious why you’re only interested in pre-2010 games to replace a hypothetical future Deus Ex release.
I love the jankiness of the era. I also played most of the post-2010 games that are similar to it.
Interesting. Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for!
Only one I can think of is AC1 and AC2 to a lesser extent.
Not pre 2010 but Shadows of Doubt is worth a mention. You are a former cop turned private eye, solving crimes in a procedually generated city trying to make ends meet. You pick locks, hack emails, use air vents and “Jensen your way in” to chase leads, collect evidence and bring justice that the megacorporation government won’t.
It’s far from perfect but is the best “Deus Ex 1 we have at home” I’ve seen.
System Shock 2 for old school, Prey (2017) for a more recent one.
Doesn’t check all the boxes, but Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater hits a lot of notes, most notably in the boss fight department.
3rd person, Cold War spy, stealth, action game
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A hunger mechanic that effected performance (stamina and at around 50% would affect aim or have stomach growls that would alert enemies) and could get food via hunting, trapping or stealing and in a few situations could be used offensively
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Camo system
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Majority of the bosses that you could defeat lethally or no lethally
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Medical system was pretty nifty, not fully realistic doing first aid during battle, but had the spirit of battle injury management
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Can get a lot of lore tidbits here and there by being stealthy and eavesdropping either being nearby or using a longe range listening device and by communicating with your operational support
And there is probably other systems I am forgetting ( played it on a ps2 many moons ago). Seems there is a pc version but appears to be a port and with a controller requirement, but otherwise I thought it was a loaded game for its time ( released 2004)
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The original version of Syndicate.
Ctrl Alt Ego is new, but is a fantastic immersive sim. If you want pre-2010 though, you’re limited to System Shock 1 and 2, Thief Gold/2: The Metal Age, Hitman: Blood Money, and the original Deus Ex.
Immersive Sims are coming back, but pre-2010 cuts you to essentially the formative classics of the Immersive Sim genre.
If you want to branch out of the strict boundaries of Immersive Sims, Fallout: New Vegas and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines are both incredible.
Added Ctrl Alt Ego to my Steam Wishlist - never heard of it, great tip!
Indies are absolutely crushing it, especially in the ImSim scene. Not an ImSim, but In Stars and Time recently blew me away with how much I loved the characters, even if it was cheesy.
I’m a half-patient gamer, I play older AAA and AA games, and newer and older indies. It’s a good mix!
There’s always the system shock remake that is pretty darn good if you’re looking for something nostalgic but updated.
It’s also 35% of at GoG right now.
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You should play / replay Splinter Cell. Espionage, stealth action, some techy tools. Really would like to see this series or something like it return.
There’s also Metal Gear, Shadowrun, and the lesser known Anachronox produced by Tom Hall of Doom.
